Back to school

Today was the first day in a while that I've had to set an alarm! Last night was a real school night. I didn't get picked up by a big yellow bus but rather walked the thirty minutes to school through the morning streets of Buenos Aires. The first part of my walk was pretty straightforward: out the door, turn right, straight on Peron for 18 blocks to Florida, turn right.

The interesection of Peron and Florida:

Then it got more tricky. It took a while but eventually I found the AIE school in the IBL office...of course. It's on the third floor of an old shopping plaza, Plaza Guemes.

The gorgeous, old birdcage elevator:

I arrived at 8:30ish and had to take a test. It said on my form that I was likely level 3 so the girl was asking me all sorts of hard questions and my brain shut down. She had me write the test for level 2 and upon reviewing my answers (some were quite creative I might add - I was proud!) she promptly placed me in level 1...part 2. Okay, so I narrowly escaped the baby class. That's all I wanted and it turned out to be just right.

At recess I felt really shy and awkward as I couldn't quite 'break in' to any groups. My introverted self took over. Everyone from all the other classes seemed to know each other. I just sat at the edge of the common area on a bench and assumed the fetal position and rocked back and forth, humming to myself. Ha! Nah! It wasn't so bad but it was an awkward feeling that I hope goes away tomorrow. I just kept telling myself that you don't grow if you don't push yourself.

Classes seem to start at 9h and go through until 13h with a single 20 minute break. It's actually pretty intense. We covered a lot of topics but I finally have a textbook that puts a few lingering questions into place. I can review tonight when I do my homework, which is to write a personal ad in Spanish...dear God! Seriously? Sigh!

Well...why not share, particularly with the universe?!

After class I wandered in the direction of the tango school to get information about classes. I didn't get there until five though! Along the way I made enquiries at a Pilates studio, grabbed lunch, wandered into some shops and got a pedicure - I couldn't resist!

When I DID get to the tango school, I was told I could start right away only I couldn't dance in flip-flops. Fair enough. It was a bit of a walk to the tango shoe store and they didn't have many in my size unless I wanted 3" stilettos. They were pretty but would cripple me.

I went for a cute pair of 1 1/2" shoes which cost 590$! Gulp! Suddenly these $70 lessons just got a lot more expensive. Well...they're for tango lessons...in Buenos Aires. Buck up chickie! This is something people dream of doing!!!

There are classes every 90 minutes from 9:30h to 22h every day at the Escuela Argentina Tango in the Galerias Pacifico - Centro Cultural Borges. You can just pick the time that suits you best and show up. Some classes are only for advanced or intermediate, some are for all levels.

Third floor of the Galerias Pacifico:

I have to say it was one of the best dance classes I've had in a long time. Forget the 1-2-3-4...footwork, which I was rather fussing over when I couldn't remember 'the basic step'. The emphasis was purely on energy and connection. Tango does not have set steps, per se. The man can play around with the steps as or if he feels like it. For me this means that I can't even possibly try to lead, something I tend to do. Instead, I can put my brain on pause, relax, listen to the music and ENJOY!

My new shoes, and pretty blue toenails: